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Who Was the Best James Bond?

I realize that all I really needed to do to prep for Skyfall is rewatch the previous two Daniel Craig James Bond pictures, which came out six and four years ago—just imagine how many Bond movies we’d get if MGM had been financially stable at any point in the last 25 years! But I’d already seen Casino Royale twice, representing a personal record for a James Bond movie (tied with You Only Live Twice; I’m not sure how it happened, but there you have it), and I hadn’t, in fact, seen any Bonds not played by Craig, Brosnan, or Connery. Fortunately, New York is more or less the rep-movies capital of these United States, so IFC Center came through with all of the Connery Bonds, followed by MoMA showing every single one through Quantum of Solace to celebrate the 50 years and 22 movies leading up to Sam Mendes Presents: Prestige Bond. I did not have the time, money, or, when it really comes down to it, the inclination to perform a full catch-up; I want to have watched all of the Bond movies more than I want to actually sit down and watch them, mainly because almost every single one of them is 10 to 15 minutes too long. (The Craig installments are the opposite: Casino Royale wears its 140 minutes reasonably well, though it could be trimmer; and Quantum of Solace, at a mere 105 minutes, is the trimmest entry ever.) I did have the inclination to DVR a bunch more Bond movies when I found out they’re airing on some channel called Universal HD. By the time the fourth Daniel Craig entry hits, I’ll probably be caught up or close to it. For now, here’s my incomplete, inexpert Bond guide.